Development Eludes Patch Of Surface Parking In Downtown Hartford

The patch of urban surface parking in downtown Hartford at the corner of Main and Morgan streets -- known as 12B -- once again caught headlines, this time as a site considered for a proposed $60 million ballpark for the New Britain Rock Cats.

The city ultimately chose a neighboring site, adding another project to a list of proposals for 12B that never became reality.

But where exactly is 12B? Three different people after a press conference on the stadium gave three different answers.

City Clerk John Bazzano finally cleared up the confusion, pulling out maps to show the 3.4-acre parcel, the city-owned parking lot at 1212 Main St. that backs up the Radisson Hotel, formerly the Crowne Plaza.

The 12B parcel was once described as the Charlie Brown of Hartford development sites. In the past 15 years, there have been a half-dozen proposals, none of them becoming reality:

2004: WFSB, Channel 3 abandons plans to build a broadcast studio on the site, saying it is too small to accommodate the stations needs. WFSB eventually moves out of Constitution Plaza and out of Hartford, relocating to Rocky Hill.

2000: Mayor Michael P. peters considers the site for a $20 million minor league baseball stadium.

1998: City council studies site for a new city hall.

1997: Officials consider site for new convention center and $374 million stadium for the New England Patriots. Site loses out to 30-acre Adriaen's Landing near riverfront. Convention Center built but Patriots do not leave Massachusetts.

1995: With the Hartford Civic Center, now XL Center, aging, 12B is considered for a 40,000-seat domed arena to become new home of UConn men's basketball, the Hartford Whalers and others.

1993: Businessman Francis W. Murray and the state fail to lure the Patriots to 12B, the chosen site for a 70,000-seat, $252 million open-air stadium.